Method and apparatus for use in forming uppers of boots and shoes.



l L. M. BROWN.' METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE I'N FOBMING-UPPER'S 0FBOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-.25'. |9141' 1,235,651. .PatentedAug 73,1917,

Fig4. N

1 UNITED STATES PAT-EM f LOUIS M. BROWN, OE BEVERLY, MaS'sAcHUsE'frfrs,ASsiGNO'E 1ro 'UNITED siioE MACHINERY COMPANY, .OE PETERSON, 'NEWfJEEsErA OOEPORATION'FO'E NEW JERSEY.

'METHOD .AND @APPARATUS EOE USE To all whom t maja/ concern `Be it knownthat I, LoUis M. BROWN, a citizen of the 'United States, residing atBeverly, vin the Vcounty of yEssex and State of Massachusetts, haveYinvented certain lin# provements in Methods and Apparatus for Use inForming Uppers OfQBoots and Shoes, of which the following description,in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likereference characters on the drawings indicating `like parts in theseveral figures. Y f

This'invention -relates to methods and apparatus for use in themanufacture of boots and shoes for the purpose of forming the uppermaterials, or portions thereof, in substantially lthe shape desired forthe finishedV shoe before the upper has been brought into assembledrelation to thematerials that constitute the bottom portion of the shoe.Machines Vof this vclass are applicable to the manufacture of shoes ofvdiffer- 'ent types vbut find their principal use at the present time inthe `ma'nii-facture of stitchdown shoes, in which the upper is providedwith an out-turiied flange to receive the stitches ror other fasteningsby whichthe upper iS secured to the sole. Such machines are shown, forexample, in United States Letters Patent No. 998,682, granted on July25, 1911, upon the application of Karl Engel, and No. 1,181,296, grantedon May 2, 1916, upon .the application of KarlEngel l and L'ouis'M.Brown.

The machines described in the patents above mentioned include, amongother fea tures, means for shaping the forepart of the upper, andaccording to the practice therein disclosed the marginal portionof theupper at the toe end is confined between members that impart thenecessary'pressure to form the out-turned fla-nge, and while the marginvis thus subjected to pressurethe unconfined portion of the blank lisoperated upon by a' toe former which imparts Ato vthe blank the Shapedesired forthe forepart of the vamp in the finished shoe. This toeforming'opl eration obviously requires ya fullness of that portion ofthe material Y bounded by the clamped margin, and by reason of thevariation in contour at Vdifferent parts of the toe of the Shoe, thereis a corresponding variation in the amount of material required foi`Specification of Letters Patent.

IN EOE-Mme UEEEES 10E BOOTS AND SHOES..

shaping different portions. In order vto avoid unduly stiaining ortearing the blank, therefore, it is necessary toI provide for somePatented 1917. .-[Appiit'ation inea November 25, 1912i.` serial No.stiamo, i Y

distribution of the material to meetA the de- I l mands of the operationof 'the toe former. The machines disclosed in the patents abovementioned accordingly haveprovision for suitable compensating movementof l the flange portion of theupper materials, which is effected byproviding clamp members =with portions that are movable substantially inthe plane vof the clamp 'margin 'of the blank.

to guide and impart to different portions'of the blank at lthe marginmovements in suitable directions and of sufficient extent to meetsubstantiallyy the demands of the' toeV formerand insure the formationof a smooth toe without subjecting any portion of the material to'excessive strains.

This invention, in `a more .particular as peet, relates to methods `andapparatus' for use inshaping the forepart or toefportion ofy shoeuppers; One feature of the invention resides in mechanism of ,novel andimf proved construction for effecting Ysuitable compensating lmovementsof the marginal portion the blank so as to 4insure the foi'- mation of asmooth` toe without excessive strain upon the material. v v

Another feature resides in improved means for forming the flange on theblank, by the operation of. which the iiange is iroiied to cause ittoretainthe shapeim; parted to it by. the clamping pressure, the ironingpreferably taking place afterthe' material at the margin of the blankhas been gathered' VaboutV the toe end. ,i .These and other features ofthe invention, and also the'steps of the novel method` herein disclosed,ywill now be described with tref.-

erence to the accompanying drawings, which show, an illustrative machinein which the novel features of the invention are embodied and by the useAof which the novel method may be practised, and will thenbe pointed outinV the claims. i

` The invention ,is illustrated reference n to mechanism'suitable foruse aspart of the machine' shown .and described VPatent No. 1,181,296,only such portions ofthe machine being shown herein as are necessary foran understanding ofthe present inventioi'i.y It will beunderstood,however, that with 0b- Figure 1 is a plan view, vwithportions broken away, of one form of apparatus illustrating theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the parts at adifferent stage of the operations; n

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing an alternative form ofapparatus; and

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3

illustrating the same stage in the operations l as shown in Fig. 2.

In the apparatus shown the mechanism for confining and operating uponthe marginal portion of the blank is mounted upon a supporting plate 2which is adapted to be secured in its proper position as a part of theupper forming machine. This mechanism comprises coperating clamp members4 and 6, of which the member 4, shown fragmentarily in the drawings, isof well known form and has a smooth face to engage the upper or nishedsurface of the marginal portion of the blank around the edge of the toeformer 8. This member is upheld normally in a well known manner bysprings 10 encircling the guiding rods 12 and is suitably operated, aswill be readily understood, to cause it to approach the plane of thelower clamp member and clamp the material. The mechanism for operatingthe toe former 8 is not shown herein in detail, but one form ofmechanism for this purpose is fully disclosed in Patent No. 1,181,296above-referred to. It is suicient for an understanding of the presentinvention to state that after the margin of the blank has been clamped,the toe former receives a slight upward movement and is then movedforwardly to form the toe simultaneously with the forward movement of abar 14 which carries adjustable f pushers 16 the purpose of which willbe subsequently explained.

The lower clamp member, indicated in general by the numeral 6, comprisesa plate which is mounted upon the support 2 for sliding movementforwardly against the force of a spring 18 which positions the membernormally at its limit of rearward movement determined by stops 20 on thesupport 2. Upon this plate, in the form of the invention shown in Figs.1 and 2, are mounted a plurality of arms or levers 22-pivoted at 24 forswinging movement in a plane parallel to the plane of the plate 6 or tothe plane of the clamped margin of the blank and havingteeth -at theirends for engagement lower or unnished surface. In the form of theinvention illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the levers 26 are similar infunction to the levers 22 but are pivoted yat 28 to swing about axeslocated inwardly from the edge of the clamped blank and their' toothedblank engaging portions are at some distance from their ends and swingin paths that curve about the blank margin. In

both forms the levers are held normally by springs 30 at limits ofmovement determined by stops 32 which are mounted on longitudinallyadjustable curved slides 34 held by screws 36 in adjusted position in acurved slideway 38 in the plate 6. Operative forward movement isimparted to the levers from curved slides 40 mounted in a guideway 42 inthe plate 6 and carrying pins 44 which are positioned upon each slide toengage the levers of therespective group in succession, beginning withthe rearmost lever of the group, and thus to swing the blank engagingportions of the levers forwardly toward the toe end of the blank. Theslides 40, in the form shown in Fig. 1, are engaged at their rear endsand movedV forwardly by bars 46 which are mounted in slideways at therear end of the plate 6 and are engaged by the pushers 16 and movedforwardly at the beginning of the forward movement of the toe former 8and the bar 14. In Fig. 3 the operating bars 48 for the slides 40, whichare similarly advanced .by the pushers 16, yare mounted in extendedVguideways formed in the plate 6 below the plane of the guideway 42 andcarry pins 50 which engage the rear ends of the slides 40.

In order to carry forward the marginal portion of the material at thesides of the Vtoe former in the rear of the levers, the

apparatus, in the form shown inFig. 1, includes toothed slides 52 whichcomprise preferably lateral and upward extensions of the bars 46 andmove therewith. The apparatus shown in Fig. 3 includes similar slides 54which are preferably integral with the bars 48, as shown. Both forms ofthe invention include also a plate 58 mounted upon the top of the rearportion of the plate 6 and out away to permit the movements of theslides 52 or 54. This plate is curved at its forward edge to conformsubstantially to thev curve of the toe former, and theforwa-rd portionof the plate formed as described has a function which will besubsequently explained.

The operation of the described mechanism takes place after a toe blank,or the forepart of an upper, has been adjusted over the toe former 8with its margin overlying the toothed slides 52 or 54 and the toothedportions of the operating levers 22er 26 which are4 in their idlepositions as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The margin of the blank is thenclamped in position, as will be readily understood, through l themovement o f Dthe clam-p member' 4, andthe toe former 8 yis then vraisedslightly' and together with the bar 14 is moved forwardly .to jshapethetoe. During the lfirst portionof vthiS Orward movement the pushers 16'serve to Eadvance the slides 46 .or 48 in the'clamp member and thereby`impart ,movement to'gthe plates 52 or 54 and the-levers 22 01126,moving first that lever which is nearest to the rear of the .clampmemberoneach sideand bringing the other levers into ,operationsuccessively in the manner .previouslyexplained. In this operation theslides 52 vvor 54 carry forward the material at the sides of the toekformer, and the levers gather and move lforward the material at the `toeend, thereby `effecting such gathering and compensating movement oftheportions of the .blank as to meet the demands of the toe formerandpermit the formation of va smoothly shaped ftoe without excessivestrains upon the material. Before the completion of .fthe forwardmovement' ofthe toe former 8V the headsof the pushers 16 come intocontact withthe rear end ,of

the plate 6. Movement` of the slides 4and .levers relatively to theiplate 6 then ceases and the lower clamp membercornprising .the plate 6and the mechanism carried thereby is advanced during the final stageof.theoperation of forming the toe. In this tmannerthe compensatingforward movement of that portion of the material `which is engaged bythe slides 52 ,or 54 is continued.;V .but the clamp member 4 and ,thetoe former ,press upon the-.blank sufficiently to prevent Tany materialforward movement .of ,the margin about the toe end, and in consequencethe toothed portions o f the'leve-rsaboutfthe end of the toe formerslide from under 4 the man gin `of the blank which .iseng'agedimmediately bythe smooth plate 58 `and ironed and pressed to assist inshaping the outturned flange. The plate 58 mayfbe'heated if l.d esiredby means such as is commonly usedin machines of this class forheating,the toe former.l After these operations theparts come to rest and areretained inthetoe shaping relation illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4asufiieienttime to permit the blank to set in the form in which it hasbeen molded., The toe former Aandthe bar 14 are then re-f tracted andthe cla-nip members, separated so as to release the work, permitting thelower clamp memberto be returned bythe spring 18 and the other parts ofthe apparatus yto vresume the positions indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, thereturn of the `slides '40.

being veffected by the spring operated levers 22 or 26.

Although the invention has been described with reference to mechanism in.which .the operations upon the marginal vportion of the blank takefplace simultaneously .With the movement .of v thetoe former, it shouldbe 'unparted to the margin of the blank yor the -l ironing of the margin'is effected, although' the latter operation should besubs'equent to the:gathering of the material at `the toe en d. `The term blank or toeblank7 used y1n the claims is tobe understood as referring generally tothe materials Which are to be operated upon,'such, vfor example, as theforepart or vamp .portion of an assembled shoe upper; such materialsbeing srntably shaped for use in'formingthe toefof a shoe, or yotherlikearticleof manufacture.

Having described-the' inventionv and set forth fully rhow *the novelmethod may` practised, what I claim as new and vdesire, to-secure byLetters Patent of `the United States is 1. In apparatus for shaping .atoe bla-nk, thecombination with a toe former, of means for clamping themarginal portion of the blank Vto form a flange thereon, said -meansincluding a plu1'a1lityof blank engaging members pivoted forswingingmovement in a pla-ne substantially parallel to the .plane of saidclamped margin, and means for imparting swinging movement tosaid membersv while the margin ofthe blank is clamped by said clamping means. Y, l

2. vIn apparatus for shaping .to'ebla'n-k, the combination withva .toeformer, of means for clamping the marginalfportion of :the blank to Vform a flange thereon,-said means Aincluding .a plurality of blankengaging members pivoted to swing about Vaires located inwardly from'the outer edge ofthe blank, and means 4for swinging'said members -togather the material vat the margin 'fof the blank.

3. In apparatus for shaping a .toe blank, the combination `with a ktoeformer, of means for ,clamping the marginal portion of the blank `toform v a flange. thereon, said means including a series of `blankengaging men-ifv bers pivoted for swinging movement ign a 'plane:substantially parallelto the vplane of said clamped margin, andgmeansfor im- Yparting vmovement to vdifferent members of the' series insuccession to gather/the mategage .the material atlth anvergirl'of theblank,

and a slide movable in a curved path about the margin of the blank andhaving means for engaging and operating said members.

6. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, a clamp member having aplurality of levers pivoted thereon and provided severally with meansfor engaging the marginal portion of the blank, a slide on said clampmember having projections for engaging and Swing ing the levers, andmeans for operating the slide.

7. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, a clamp member having aplurality of levers pivoted thereon and provided severally With meansfor engaging themarginal portion of the blank, stops for determining theidle positions of said levers, resilient means for holding the leversnormally in contact vvith the stops, and means vmovable transversely ofthe levers for imparting operative movements thereto.

v8. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, a clamp member having aplurality of levers pivoted thereon and provided severally with meansfor engaging the marginal portion of the blank, an adjustable slide onthe clamp member provided With stops for determining the idle positionsof said levers, and an operating slide having means for impartingoperative movements to the levers.

9. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, a plurality of pivoted blankengaging members arranged to project outwardly in a series about themargin of the blank, movable slides curved about the blank and havingmeans for imparting operative movement to different members of theseries in succession, and means for imparting operative movement to saidslides.

10. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination With a toeformer, of means for clamping the marginal portion of the blank to forma flange thereon, said means including a plurality of members arrangedto engage the marginal portion of the blank about the toe end thereofand pivoted for svvinging'movement in a plane substantially parallel tothe plane of said clamped margin, movable slides having means forengaging the blank margin at the sides of the blank, and means foreiieeting operative movement simultaneously of said pivoted members andslides.

11. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination With a toeformer, of a plurality of blank engaging members arranged for relativeswinging movements to gather the material about the toe end of theblank, means for operating said members, and means for moving forwardthe marginal portion of the material at the sides of the blanksimultaneously vvith the operation of said members.

A12. `In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination with toeforming means, of

means for forming a flange on the blank, and means for ironing theflange to cause it to'retain the shape imparted thereto by said formingmeans.

13. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination With toeforming means, of means for gathering the material at the margin of theblank, and means for subjecting said gathered material to rubbingpressure.

14:. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination With toeforming means, of means for clamping the material at the margin of theblank to form a flange thereon, means for gathering the material at saidclamped margin, and means for ironing the margin of the blank to set theflange in permanent shape.

15. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, the combination with toeforming means, of clamp members relatively movable to clamp the marginof the blank, said members being relatively movable also to iron theblank.

16. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, clamp members relativelyvmovable to clamp the margin of the blank, one of said members havingblank engagingdevices movable thereon to gather the material at themargin of the blank and an ironing member in the rear of said devices,said clamp member being movable forwardly to cause the ironing member tooperate upon the blank.

17. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank, clamp members relativelymovable to clamp the margin of the blank, one of said members havingblank engaging devices movable thereon to gather the material at themargin about the toe end of the blank and an ironing member in the rearof said devices, means for operating said devices to gather thematerial, and means for subsequently moving said clamp member for-Wardly to cause the ironing member to operate upon the gatheredmaterial.

18. In apparatus for shaping a 'toe blank, clamp members relativelymovable to clamp the margin of the blank, one of said members havingblank engaging devices movable to gather the material at the margin ofthe blank and also ironing means, and means for imparting relativemovement to said clamp members to cause the gatheredv ma- 'terial to beironed by said ironing means.

19. In apparatus for shaping a toe blank,

means for gathering and clamping the material at the margin of the blankcomprising clamp members for confining the margin under pressure, andmeans for imparting relative movement to said clamp members to iron thegathered material.

20. The method of shaping a toe blank Which comprises gathering in thematerial at the margin of the blank to provide a fullness in the portionof the material bounded by said margin, and ironing said gatheredmaterial under pressure to cause it to set in permanent form.

21. The method of shaping a toe blank which comprises clamping themarginal portion of 'the blank, gathering-in the material along themargin vof the blank While the clamping pressure is maintained, and thenironing the gathered material to cause it to set in permanent form.

22. The method of forming a flange on a toe blank Which comprisesclamping and Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each. byaddressing the gathering in the material at the margin of the blank, andWhile the clamping pressure is maintained ironing said material t0 causeit to set in permanent form.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speoiication in thepresence of tWo subscribing Witnesses. v,

LOUIS M. BROWN.

. Witnesses: v

' CHESTER VEyltoernzs, n ABBE; L. FREAR.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

